On 1 December 2004, the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on
Threats, Challenges and Change presented their report entitled “A
More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility.” Containing 101
recommendations, the report addresses a range of issues identified
by the Panel as being the greatest threats to worldwide security in
the twenty-first century, including: continued poverty and
environmental degradation, terrorism, civil war, conflict between
States, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and
organized crime. The report also makes recommendations regarding the
reform of the United Nations.

The Panel dedicated a section of its report to the security implications
of continued poverty and environmental degradation, focusing on the
MDGs, finance, climate change and renewable energy, trade, and HIV/AIDS.
Among its proposals, the Panel recommended that States should provide
incentives for the further development of renewable energy sources and
begin to phase out environmentally harmful subsidies, especially for
fossil fuel use and development. On climate change, the Panel urges UN
member States to reflect on the gap between the promise of the Kyoto
Protocol and its performance, re-engage on the problem of global warming
and begin new negotiations to produce a new long-term strategy for
reducing global warming beyond the period covered by the Protocol.
Regarding disasters and vulnerability, the Panel identified the need for
the UN and the international financial institutions to do more to assist
those States most vulnerable to severe natural disasters. It also
recommends that UNEP, UNDP and the World Bank work in a more integrated
fashion and in partnership with governments and research institutions,
improve vulnerability assessments, and collaborate with the most
affected governments to strengthen their adaptive capacity.

“Alarmed by the inflammatory role” of natural resources in wars in
Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the
Panel’s report also touches on the relationship between environmental
degradation and conflict, identifying a new challenge for the UN as
providing support to weak States, especially those recovering from war,
in the management of their natural resources to avoid future conflicts.
In this regard, the Panel recommended more legal mechanisms in the area
of natural resource management, and that the UN work with national
authorities, international financial institutions, civil society
organizations and the private sector to develop norms governing the
management of natural resources for countries emerging from or at risk
of conflict.

all States must recommit themselves to the goals of eradicating
poverty, achieving sustained economic growth and promoting
sustainable development;

the many donor countries that currently fall short of the UN 0.7 per
cent gross national product target for official development
assistance should establish a timetable for reaching it;

World Trade Organization members should strive to conclude the Doha
development round of multilateral trade negotiations at the latest
in 2006;

lender governments and the international financial institutions
should provide highly indebted poor countries with greater debt
relief, longer rescheduling and improved access to global markets;
and

international donors, in partnership with national authorities and
local civil society organizations, should undertake a major new
global initiative to rebuild local and national public health
systems throughout the developing world.

The report will be transmitted to the General Assembly for review, and
for a possible decision at its 60th session in 2005.

WORLD
BANK ACCEPTING PROPOSALS FOR DEVELOPMENT MARKETPLACE 2005
The World Bank’s
Development Marketplace (DM) is awarding $3 million to
innovative bottom-up development projects that address
environmental challenges.

With the theme of “Innovations
for Livelihoods in a Sustainable Environment,” the 2005 DM will seek
to engage the development community in productive environmental
initiatives and inventive partnerships that address poverty
reduction, economic development and environmental
sustainability.DM2005 is open to all, including
NGOs, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, private
foundations, universities and schools, private sector groups,
individuals and local and municipal governments.

Proposals must
reflect the DM2005 theme and focus on any of the following
areas: renewable energy and energy efficiency at the community
level; innovative application of clean technologies in small
enterprises; biodiversity conservation; environmental education
and awareness; environmental health protection; and sustainable
use of natural resources. Deadline for proposals is 21 January 2005.

TOURISM BODY DEVELOPS NEW DEFINITION ON
SUSTAINABILITY

The World Tourism
Organization has revised its definition of sustainable tourism to better
reflect the outcome of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.
The new definition, which was developed by the organization’s Committee
on Sustainable Development of Tourism, notes that “sustainability
principles refer to the environmental, economic and socio-cultural
aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be
established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term
sustainability.” The new definition also includes statements on making
optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in
tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and
helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity; and respecting
the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities. In addition, it
refers to cultural heritage and traditional values, long-term viability,
informed participation from all relevant stakeholders, monitoring
impacts, and poverty alleviation. The original definition was published
in Agenda 21 for Travel and Tourism in 1995.

The Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF)
will be inaugurated on 17 November 2004 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Initiated by Senegal’s
President Abdoulaye Wade at the Summit of Cities and Local
Authorities on the Information Society, held in Lyon, France, in
December 2003, the DSF is an independent initiative that seeks to
reduce the global digital divide and promote access of all citizens
to the knowledge society. In addition to President Wade, the Heads
of State of Nigeria, South Africa, and the African Union Commission
are scheduled to attend the inauguration.

UN LEADERS MARK INTERNATIONAL
DAY FOR PREVENTING THE EXPLOITATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN WAR AND ARMED
CONFLICTS

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan highlighted a number of legal
provisions protecting the environment during wartime in a statement
to mark the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the
Environment in War and Armed Conflicts, which was celebrated on 6
November 2004.These include the Convention on the
Prohibition of Military or any other Hostile Use of Environmental
Modification Techniques (1976), the Chemical Weapons Convention
(1993), and the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-personnel
Mines (1997). He also called for recognition that “no war or
conflict is remote enough not to affect our environment, wherever we
live.”

Klaus Töpfer, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive
Director, called attention to a report on the Southern Caucasus
countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, which was recently
produced by UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).He highlighted thestudy’s conclusions that“environmental degradation can undermine local
and international security by reinforcing and increasing grievances
within and between societies” and“a
decrepit and declining environment can also‘weaken states’ by depressing economic
activity and diminishing the authority of the government in the eyes of
its citizens.”He also underscored the
study’s suggestion that “joint projects to clean up sites, agreements
and treaties to better share resources such as rivers and forests, and
strengthening cooperation between the different countries ministries and
institutions may hold the key to building trust, understanding and more
stable relations.”

Kenyan Environmentalist and Deputy Minister for
Environment and Natural Resources Wangari Maathai has been honored the 2004 Nobel
Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development,
democracy and peace. According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee,
lasting world peace depends on a secure living environment and
Maathai “stands at the front of the fight to promote
ecologically-viable social, economic and cultural development …
taking a holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces
democracy, human rights and women’s rights.” Maathai founded the
Green Belt Movement, where among other things she has mobilized poor
women to plant over 25 million trees across Africa since 1977. This
is the first time the prize has been bestowed to an African woman
and to an environmentalist since the prize was established in 1901.

Maathai’s award has not been without controversy. While many have
applauded the Nobel Committee’s recognition of the links between
environment and conflict, others have accused the Committee of betraying
the original focus on peace. Others also express concern that while the
move could contribute to expanding the concept of security, it could
also result in the dilution of the prize’s prestige.

ACTION DAY
UPDATE: WORLD OBSERVES DISASTER REDUCTION DAY AND INTERNATIONAL POVERTY
ERADICATION DAY

“Learning from today’s disasters for
tomorrow’s hazards” was the theme of the International Day for
Disaster Reduction, observed on 13 October. Education, learning and
awareness on disaster reduction was the focus of the action day as
several UN and international agencies officially launched “Riskland”
a game that seeks to educate children on disaster risk reduction.
International deliberations on disaster reduction strategies will
culminate in the World Conference on Disaster Reduction to be held
in January 2005 in Kobe, Japan, where decision makers will take
stock of experiences with disasters and risk reduction over the past
decade and provide a strategic vision to reduce risk and
vulnerability to natural and technological hazards and build the
resilience of nations and communities to disasters.

Recent events
around the globe also marked the International Day for the Eradication
of Poverty, a day for all to consider how they can contribute to the
eradication of extreme poverty. UN headquarters in New York held a press
conference and panel discussion on the effects of poverty on families,
and UNESCO organized a series of seminars to raise awareness of the
linkages between poverty eradication and human rights. Declared by the
General Assembly in 1992, this action day has been officially celebrated
on 17 October since 1993, though it was first observed in 1987 at the
Human Rights Plaza in Paris.

NEW IISD AND IUCN TRADE, AID AND
SECURITY INITIATIVE EXAMINES LINKAGES BETWEEN ENVIRONMENT AND CONFLICT

A group of international experts in
trade in natural resources, aid policy and security issues met in
Geneva recently to establish the operating guidelines for a new IISD
and IUCN-World Conservation Union project examining the linkages
between environment and conflict. The project will assess policy
tools and develop a number of focused case studies and rigorous
thematic papers to investigate the linkages between trade, aid,
security and the environment. The conclusions of the project will be
launched in a book and a conference towards the end of 2005.

The FAO announced on 13 October 2004
that six additional aircraft would be joining the four already
operating in the West African region to deploy pesticides to combat
locust swarms, and that four helicopters would follow shortly.
Mauritania, Mali, Senegal and Niger have been worst affected by the
locusts, whose numbers have swelled due to good rainfall, which
enhances breeding conditions. FAO estimates that more than 40% of
Mauritania’s crops have been wiped out in some areas. FAO first
warned of the crisis in October 2003. In February 2004, it appealed
for $9 million. By August, it said the effort required $100 million.
But the funds have only just begun arriving. As of 12 October,
almost $20 million had been received. FAO has added $6 million of
its own funds to this effort, and has received signed agreements for
$38 million more.

The shift towards
industrialization, privatization and export orientation of the
fishing industry should consider the rights and resources of
subsistence fishing communities, according to an interim report by
the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food. The report examines
the critical importance of fish and fishery resources for access to
food and livelihoods in many Asian, African and Latin American
countries, and expresses concerns regarding the ongoing
restructuring of the fish trade and fishing industry, noting
potential negative impacts on the livelihoods and food security of
artisanal and subsistence fisherfolk. According to the report, there
are approximately 842 million people suffering from under
nourishment in a world that produces more than sufficient food to
feel the world’s population, and hunger levels have been increasing
every year since 1996 when governments pledged to combat hunger at
the World Food Summit. In addition to its focus on the linkages
between fisheries and the right to food, the report also provides an
overview of the current situation of world hunger, and highlights
situations of special concern, including in Sudan, North Korea, Cuba
and the Occupied Palestine Territories, urging respective
governments to respect the human right to food. An Intergovernmental
Working Group convened under the auspices of the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization is currently drafting “voluntary
guidelines” that seek to assist governments in their efforts to
implementation the right to food through a rights-based approach to
food security.

The UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced in
August a five-year plan through which the Internet-based resources
of the UAE’s Agriculture Information Centre (UAE-AGRICENT) will
expand, in coordination with the FAO’s World Agriculture Information
Centre (WAICENT), to become a resource for the entire Middle East
region. This collaboration seeks to increase access to agriculture
information to boost economic development and improve food security.
Information on animal quarantine practices is included in the
partner’s plans for new content development. UAE-AGRICENT currently
provides information in Arabic and English on farming, fisheries,
forestry and food security, and issues early warning reports on
emergencies like water shortages and plant or animal disease
outbreaks. The collaboration with WAICENT will allow these services
to have a wider relevance to farmers throughout the Middle East.

ASEAN AND UNU AGREE TO COOPERATE ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

The Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and United Nations University (UNU) signed, on 24
August 2004, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their
cooperation on sustainable development activities and projects.
ASEAN and the UNU have been collaborating since 1998 on a variety of
activities and projects aimed at strengthening sustainable
development, including those on synergy and coordination in the
implementation of multilateral environmental agreements, biosafety
(particularly the safety of genetically modified organisms), urban
environmental governance, and better management of protected areas.
Through the new MoU, the signatories will explore new areas of
collaboration including training in ASEAN Member Countries, an
ASEAN-UNU lecture series at the ASEAN Secretariat and in ASEAN
Member Countries, and fellowships for ASEAN scholars to conduct
advanced research at UNU Institute of Advanced Studies.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic threatens
subsistence agriculture in countries across southern and eastern
Africa, with long-term consequences for food security, says an FAO
study on subsistence agriculture in Mozambique.

The study indicated that 45% of
disease-affected households in the country had reduced areas under
cultivation, while 60% had reduced the number of crops grown. Researcher
Anne Waterhouse said the results showed that HIV/AIDS may have a “highly
negative” impact on local knowledge regarding seeds, as it affects the
passing of knowledge about traditional crops from generation to
generation. Traditional crop varieties act as an insurance against
hunger, because they are adapted to local conditions and can resist
Africa’s droughts.

Commissioned by the FAO LinKS project,
which explores the linkages between local knowledge, gender and
biodiversity, the study was conducted by the International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.

The European Commission has initiated
a 12-week stakeholder consultation process inviting input for the
mid-term review of its sustainability agenda. Adopted at the
Gothenburg European Council in June 2001, the EU’s Sustainable
Development Strategy contains cross cutting proposals aimed at
ensuring greater coherence and cost effectiveness of policymaking,
as well as promoting technological innovation and enhancing civil
society and business involvement in policy formation. Key priorities
identified in the strategy include: limiting climate change and
increasing clean energy use; addressing threats to public health;
managing natural resources more responsibly; and improving transport
system and land use management. The consultation seeks to gather
views on the strategy, its achievements to date, and possible future
directions. The deadline
for submission of input is 31 October 2004.

The Human Development and Capability
Association (HDCA) will officially be launched 6 September 2004. The
association seeks to promote high quality research in the
interconnected areas of human development and capability, focusing
on areas where the human development and capability approaches have
made and can make significant contributions, including quality of
life, poverty, justice, gender, development and environment. The
Association will, among other activities, hold annual or biannual
conferences, maintain a listserv, support training activities, and
provide a forum for fostering collaborative research. Amartya Sen
will be the HDCA’s first president and Martha Nussbaum will be its
president-elect.

The CSD Secretariat has
requested input from major groups in the preparation of the
Secretary-General’s reports for the 13th session of the Commission
on Sustainable Development (CSD-13). Information submitted by major
groups will be collected, analyzed and considered in the preparation
of official published reports. CSD-12, which took place in April
2004, reviewed the state of implementation of water/sanitation/human
settlements goals and targets provided for in Agenda 21, the
Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The outcome of CSD-12 was a
Chair’s Summary, which identified constraints and obstacles to, and
continuing challenges for, the implementation of
water/sanitation/human settlements goals and targets. This Chair’s
Summary provides the substantive basis for the preparation of
Secretary-General’s reports, which will focus on policy options and
possible actions to overcome the constraints and obstacles and meet
the challenges identified by CSD-12. Major groups wishing to
contribute to these reports should submit their inputs by 17
September 2004. For more information visit:
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/mgroups/csd_13/input_sgreports.htm

UN SEATING ORDER SELECTED

Following established
practice, the UN Secretary-General drew lots on 20 July 2004 to
determine which Member State would occupy the first desk on the
General Assembly floor. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was drawn
and will therefore sit at the first desk to the right of the
President, with other countries following in the English
alphabetical order. The same order will be observed in the Main
Committees.

SACHS STRESSES NEED FOR
GREATER COOPERATION TO ACHIEVE MDGS

Jeffrey Sachs, Special
Advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and Director of Columbia University’s Earth
Institute, briefed the UN Economic and Social Council on “The
Emerging Recommendations of the Millennium Project: A Global
Business Plan to Achieve the MDGs” on 21 July 2004. Sachs said
greater cooperation between rich and poor states will be necessary
if the MDGs are to be met. He urged rich states to take steps
including scaling up development aid, reducing or canceling debt,
removing protectionist barriers for agricultural goods and
increasing access to western markets. He called on poor states to
draft national poverty reduction strategy papers that clearly
outline how money will be invested, how spending will be monitored
and how to ensure that women will reap the same benefits as men.

BIOSCIENCES FACILITY FOR
EASTERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA SLATED TO BEGIN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES IN
NOVEMBER

A biosciences facility
for eastern and central Africa is expected to begin its research
activities on 1 November 2004. The facility is one of four projected
centers of excellence being established in Africa by the New
Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The biosciences
facility will be located in Nairobi, Kenya, and will focus on
agricultural production issues as identified by national governments
and regional organizations. Researchers at the facility are expected
to develop nutrient-rich plants that are resistant to stress and
disease and vaccines against livestock diseases, and reach out to
farmers to share their research findings.

Over 30 civil society stakeholders
involved in agricultural issues have sent an open letter in support
of FAO’s recently released report on “Agricultural Biotechnology:
Meeting the needs of the poor?” The letter applauds FAO “for moving
the discussion about agricultural biotechnology away from polarizing
political rhetoric and either/or debates toward how best to utilize
and apply agricultural biotechnology to the needs of the world’s
poor and undernourished. It commends FAO for “weighing in on this
important yet still contentious area and offering reasoned optimism
about the role that agricultural biotechnology should play in
meeting the needs of the poor and humanity of the 21st century.”

This letter, which is signed primarily
by free market institutions and biotech stakeholder NGOs, comes a month
after another open letter that was signed by 650 civil society
organizations and 800 individuals that criticized the FAO report
for supporting the biotechnology industry and being biased against the
poor, the environment and food production.

The Athens 2004 Olympics environmental performance has fallen short
of deserving any medals, according to a recent WWF report entitled
“Environmental Assessment of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.” Aimed
at contributing to the assessment of the environmental footprint of
the Athens Olympics, the report gave the green component of the
upcoming Games a low score of 0.77 on a scale of 0-4, based on the
Sydney 2000 Games benchmark for “green” games. The lowest marks were
given to areas such as environmental planning and evaluation,
protection of fragile natural and cultural areas, waste management
and water conservation, and the use of environmentally-friendly
construction technologies. The highest scores were awarded to the
areas of public transport, improvement of existing infrastructure,
and promotion of environmental awareness. The report urges the
International Olympic Committee to ensure that future host cities
abide by official environmental rules and regulations, and to take
seriously into consideration the environmental lessons of the Athens
Games.

UNEP has opened a new
office in Vienna to focus on protecting the Carpathian mountain
range and promoting environmental cooperation in Central and
Southeastern Europe. The Carpathian mountain range spans the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia
and Ukraine. Among the new office’s duties will be to serve as the
interim Secretariat of the Framework Convention on the Protection
and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians, which was adopted
and signed in May 2003. The Carpathian mountain range has a unique
ecosystem and hosts endangered species including the brown bear,
wolf and lynx, and close to 4,000 partly endangered plant species.

UNEP recently
announced that it will work with major institutional investors to
develop a set of globally recognized principles for responsible
investment by September 2005. Launched on 15 July, the “Responsible
Investment Initiative” follows a June meeting of over 40 investors
and fund managers in Paris at which participants proposed a global
alliance of investors to guide responsible investment best practice.
The initiative was launched in response to this proposal and to a
UNEP study, “The Materiality of Social, Environmental and Corporate
Governance Issues to Equity Pricing,” in which UNEP worked with a
group of fund managers and brokerage houses to explore the impact of
environmental, social and governance issues on share prices.

OPEN LETTER TO FAO CHIEF
CRITICIZES FAO REPORT AS BIASED TOWARDS BIOTECH BUSINESS

More than 650 civil
society organizations and 800 individuals from over 80 countries
drafted and signed an open letter delivered on 16 June 2004 to
Jacques Diouf, Director General of UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), criticizing the FAO report “Agricultural
biotechnology: meeting the needs of the poor?” in the 2003-04 issue
of The State of Food and Agriculture. The report was publicly
presented on 17 May 2004. The open letter expresses concern that the
report is biased against the poor, the environment and food
production in general, and states that “It promotes the genetic
engineering of seeds and the further skewing of research funding
towards this technology and away from ecologically sound methods
developed by farmers.”

In response, Diouf wrote to
NGOs, asking readers “to consider that while this report emphasizes
biotechnology, it is not meant to represent all components of FAO’s
broad mandate and commitment to promote agricultural development and
alleviate hunger.” He goes on to note that the need to feed an
increasing world population with decreasing opportunities to expand
arable land requires “intensified cultivation, higher yields and greater
productivity” and, as a result, “we will have to use the scientific
tools of molecular biology, in particular the identification of
molecular markers, genetic mapping and gene transfer for more effective
plant enhancement, going beyond the phenotype-based methods.”

14 June
2004 marked the official opening of the Nairobi-based African
Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF). The establishment of the
organization also saw Mpoko Bokanga assuming the position of AATF’s
Executive Director, and replacing Eugene Terry, the Foundation’s
Implementing Director, who was responsible for the organization’s
start-up and activities since July 2002. AATF seeks to facilitate
and promote partnerships with public and private sector entities to
remove barriers that prevent smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan
Africa from gaining access to existing agricultural technologies
that could help improve food security and reduce poverty. It does so
by facilitating royalty free transfers of proprietary technologies,
entering into contractual agreements to manage the deployment of the
technologies, and ensuring that constraints that develop after
access is secured are addressed.

The United
Nations University recently opened its Institute for Environment and
Human Security (UNU-EHS) with the aim of enhancing the capacity of
governments to respond to disasters. Officially launched in December
2003, the Bonn-based UNU-EHS opened on 15 June 2004 with the aim of
addressing and finding ways to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities
resulting from environmental hazards. The Institute plans to focus on
vulnerability assessment of flood plains, deltas and urban
agglomerations in 2004-05, and will expand its work to consider drought
and its impact on rural communities from 2006.

Its strategic
directions involve: fostering a better understanding of forces and
processes of environmental degradations and their influence on hazard
magnitude and frequency and subsequent disasters; exploring links
between different hazard events as well as creeping processes such as
climate change and their impact on the inherent risk and vulnerability;
contributing to development, testing and verification of vulnerability
indicators, and investigating relationships between vulnerability and
coping capacity; strengthening research and training capacities in
developing countries through networking, joint research and other
activities; and supporting decision makers at different levels through
information dissemination and policy dialogues.

UNU-EHS is
supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and
the Ministry of Science and Research of the State of North
Rhine-Westphalia.

G8 LEADERS URGED TO FOCUS ON MDGS; G8
SUMMIT SPOTLIGHTS SITUATION IN IRAQ, TAKES ACTION AGAINST PROLIFERATION
OF WMDsLeaders of the Group of Eight
industrialized nations were urged by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and
by NGOs of their countries ahead of the G8 Summit held recently in Sea
Island, Georgia, US, to prioritize the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). UN Secretary-General Annan appealed in a letter to G8 leaders to
incorporate the MDGs as an explicit priority in the programmes and
policies of their countries. Annan also underscored the critical
importance of MDG-8 on developing a global partnership for development
for achieving the other seven goals.

In a similar vein, over
1,500 groups of humanitarian and development NGOs from the G8 nations
joined together in a call to their nation’s leaders to focus on poverty
eradication and recommit to achieving the MDGs. The joint statement,
released ahead of this year’s G8 Summit, reminds G8 leaders that as they
“debate the geostrategies for enhancing global stability” that many of
them have made “convincing public cases in support of effective,
accountable development.” The statement calls on G8 leaders to: formally
place eradication of extreme poverty as the central agenda item of all
G8 meetings; recommit their governments, by specifying concrete
strategies and plans, to the achievement of all the MDGs; and use and
tailor all tools necessary for meeting the MDGs, including development
assistance, trade policies, debt relief, technology transfer and private
investment.

While discussions focused on Iraq and
combating terrorism, the Sea Island Summit 2004, which took place from
8-10 June, produced a number of environment and sustainable
development-related outcomes. These include agreements on: an action
plan to “apply the power of entrepreneurship and the private sector”
toward poverty alleviation; taking all necessary steps to eradicate
polio by the end of 2005; an initiative to help prevent famine by
improving worldwide emergency assessment and response systems, raising
agricultural productivity, and helping 5 million chronically food
insecure people in Ethiopia attain food security by 2009; and taking new
action against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including
expanding the Proliferation Security Initiative, strengthening the
International Atomic Energy Agency, and refraining from new transfers of
uranium enrichment and reprocessing technology.

G8 leaders also said agreed to launch in
2005 the “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Initiative,” a plan aimed at
cutting down on waste, promoting recycling, reducing barriers to trade
in goods and materials for recycled and remanufactured products, and
promoting science and technology on relevant technologies. This
initiative is expected to be launched in early 2005 at a ministerial
meeting hosted by the Government of Japan. The Summit also saw
commitment to increasing action to promote global economic growth and
directing trade ministers to successfully conclude the WTO’s Doha global
trade negotiations.

WORLD PUBLIC OPINION POLL STATES THE
“WORLD IS NOT GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION”

Sixty percent of respondents to a
poll of people from 19 countries between November 2003 and February
2004 said the world is not
going in the right direction, and views of the US were the most
powerful predictor of this assessment. Those seeing as the US having
a negative influence in the world were more than twice as likely to
have negative views of how the world is going. Overall, 37% of those
polled believed that the US has a positive influence in the world,
while 55% disagreed. Forty-nine percent said Europe has a positive
influence in the world, while 40% disagreed.

This poll of
18,797 people was conducted by the polling firm GlobeScan and analyzed
in conjunction with the Program on International Policy Attitudes of the
University of Maryland. Additional questions touched on globalization,
trust of the United Nations, and international trade and assistance.
Fifty-five percent of those polled stated that globalization is positive
for them and their family, while 25% said it is negative and 20% were
unsure. A slightly higher percentage (59%) said they trust the United
Nations to “operate in the best interests” of their society.
Non-governmental organizations “such as environmental and social
advocacy groups” were trusted by 65%, while national governments (53%),
large domestic companies (52%), press and media (50%), trade and labor
unions (48%), and global companies (42%) were trusted at lower levels.
Eighty-four percent believed that rich countries have a moral
responsibility to help poor countries develop, with 74% of the
respondents stating that it is in rich countries’ economic self-interest
to actively help poor countries develop.

The Athens Olympics Organizing
Committee signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United
Nations Environment Programme recently committing to a number of
initiatives to green this summer’s Olympic Games. Through the MoU,
the Organizing Committee has pledged to provide a compilation of
“Environmental Challenges and Achievements” outlining the
environmental perspective of all aspects of the Games. Both
organizations have agreed to develop and implement public awareness
and education campaigns on anti-littering, waste management and
water conservation, and distribute brochures promoting an
environmentally-friendly “Code of Conduct.” It was also agreed that
scoreboards will carry environmental messages.

Klaus Töpfer, UNEP Executive Director,
noted that security concerns had overridden some of the organizer’s
initial plans to green the Athens Olympics. “It should also be made
clear that these 2004 Summer Olympic Games are being organized in one of
the most difficult atmospheres of recent times with heightened concerns
about security … The organizers have taken this issue seriously to
ensure a safe and secure Olympics. But this has probably come at a price
and other considerations, including parts of their environmental
programme, may alas have fallen short of their initial aspirations,”
Töpfer said.

A regional knowledge and training
center was launched recently by the Japanese Government and the
World Bank. Part of the Bank-initiated Global Development Learning
Network (GDLN), the Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC) aims to
promote human resource development and build administrative and
institutional capacity in developing countries, particularly in the
Asia Pacific region. The center would enable Japan to further
finance regional development and share development practices and
expertise.

During the launching ceremony, Sadakazu
Tanigaki, Japan’s Minister of Finance, said “I would like to call upon
our friends in the region to inject their ideas into TDLC programmes, so
that together we can ensure the TDLC serves the region as effectively as
possible. We would be delighted if Japan’s experience and knowledge of
development could used to enrich intellectual exchange amongst our
partners in the region.”

With over 60 centers worldwide, the GDLN
uses state-of-the-art information and communications technology,
including videoconferencing facilities and high-speed internet
connection, to enable knowledge sharing and collaboration across
geographic distances.

Foundations can play a key role in
promoting the Millennium Development Goals, UN Deputy
Secretary-General Louise Fréchette said recently in a speech to the
European Foundation Centre’s annual Assembly. Fréchette noted that
the United Nations and charitable foundations share similar
objectives of working for “human dignity, freedom and solidarity,
tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility,” and
invited charitable foundations to work with the international
community in promoting the MDGs. Fréchette also highlighted the work
of the UN Office for International Partnerships, which has inspired
other foundations and philanthropists “to work with the UN in areas
ranging from education to maternal health to biodiversity.”

ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY INDEX
LAUNCHED An Environmental Vulnerability Index
(EVI) aimed at enabling small island developing States (SIDS) to better
understand their vulnerability and progress toward more sustainable
development was launched recently. Developed over the past five years by
the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) in partnership
with UNEP, New Zealand, Norway, Italy, Ireland, AOSIS and others, the
EVI was elaborated in response to a call made in the Barbados Programme
of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS to develop a composite
vulnerability index integrating both ecological fragility and economic
vulnerability.

The EVI is based on 50 indicators
covering natural hazards, coping characteristics of the environment and
pressures from human activities, which together characterize the
vulnerability of natural systems at the regional, country, province or
island level. In addition to providing feedback to those interested in
determining changes in environmental quality resulting from policy
decisions, the index also aims to meet a number of requirements for
global and national level environmental management processes. Potential
applications include use as a tool for adaptive management and
monitoring sustainable development, and as a means of identifying issues
that would benefits from external assistance.

EASTERN CARIBBEAN
STATES RECEIVE GRANTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONThe Organization of
Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) recently received a US$3.7 million GEF
grant to fund a five-year environmental protection strategy initiative
launched by the GEF and the World Bank. Entitled “Protected Areas and
Associates Livelihoods,” the initiative aims to curb environmental
degradation by enhancing the application of environmental safeguards and
strengthening management capacity. The region has experienced adverse
environmental trends, such as reefs degradation, deforestation, fish
stocks depletion, which threaten livelihoods in the agriculture, fishing
and tourism sectors.

The safeguards to be
implemented under the grant include the creation of six new Protected
Areas (Pas) and the initiation of numerous sub-projects within and in
the vicinity of the PAs to reduce environmental pressure on the
protected zones. The sub-projects also aims to increase and diversify
PA-related income to local communities through initiatives such as
tourism development, organic farming ventures, training in biodiversity
conservation, and increasing environmental awareness. The six
participating OECS countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada,
St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

NGOs CHALLENGE GOVERNMENTS OVER COMPLIANCE WITH AARHUS CONVENTION

NGOs have recently
submitted several claims to the Aarhus Convention’s compliance mechanism
alleging that certain Parties to the Convention are failing to comply
with treaty obligations. Five communications have been put forwarded
thus far with allegations against Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, Hungary, and
Turkmenistan on issues ranging from the failure to provide information
on the economic justification for a proposal to import nuclear waste to
the failure to ensure adequate public participation in the permitting
process regarding the construction of a navigation canal through an
important wetland area.

The Aarhus
Convention requires Parties to guarantee the rights of the public to
participate in decision making and to have access to information and
justice in environment matters. Unprecedented among multilateral
environment agreements, the compliance mechanism was put into place
during the first Meeting of the Parties to the Convention and is
overseen by a Compliance Committee, which will begin investigating the
claims through a process of dialogue with the Parties involved. The
Meeting of the Parties is the final arbiter on whether or not there is a
case of non-compliance.

Links to
further information

Aarhus Convention
Compliance Committee website

Fifteen years following the fall of
the communist regimes, eight Central and Eastern European countries
and two other states join the European Union, increasing its
number of member states to 25 and its population by 75 million. This
expansion brings with it economic and environmental challenges as
well as opportunities.

With regards to the environment, the
accession process has fostered the adoption, implementation and
enforcement of EU environmental framework legislation, MEAs, product
standards and regulatory provisions and achieved gains in environmental
quality in the Central and Eastern Europe states. An analysis published
recently in ENS highlights the following mixed signals being sent on
sustainable development: while the EU notes its commitment to
sustainable development, the urge to “Europeanize” and adopt western
consumption patterns has resulted in embracing a disposable lifestyle
and increasing the amount of solid waste generated; while the new member states represent a
large proportion of Europe’s biodiversity, the EU’s plans to connect
East and West via an expanded highway system will bring roads to
environmentally sensitive areas and jeopardize the region’s natural wealth; and
while EU policies require investment in emissions reductions, they also
promote investments in transportation infrastructure at the expense of
public transport and air quality. The IUCN has also prepared an
assessment of what enlargement will mean for biodiversity in Europe.

In agricultural terms, four million
farmers will be added to the existing 7 million and 38 million
hectares of utilized arable land to the existing 130 million.
According to the FAO, five percent of Europeans are affected by food insecurity and
the region’s poverty based on living on less than $2 per day stands
at 21 percent. The UN wire recently noted predictions that it will
take nearly 60 years before Lithuania attains the living standards
of France today.

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES BALANCE IN
DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES AND INTERNATIONAL AGENDA UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed
the need for a balanced international agenda along with balanced
development priorities during his address to the High-Level segment of
the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. He said the war in Iraq
and focus on terrorism have detracted attention from sustainable
development, and cautioned that the international community should lose
no more time in its struggle for human well-being. He noted that an
integrated approach toward the issues on the CSD’s agenda – water,
sanitation and human settlements – could generate a cascade of progress
and called on the Commission to be a watchdog, “alert to threats and
fearless in sounding alarms, continuing to give voice to all
stakeholders, not just governments.” He added that the international
community must “listen to what science was saying about the planet, and
to what ordinary people – the billions without water or sanitation, or
living in slums – were saying about their lives.”

In a similar vein, World Bank President James Wolfenson has also
expressed concern over the “drying up” of development aid. At the
recent Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics in Europe he
said “what discourages me is to see that the focus on development
has decreased. It is my greatest concern. Because, contrary to what
happens in war time, you don’t see the people die ... Since
September 11, development aid is no longer on the top of the rich
countries’ list. Today, the world is distracted by immediate
crises.”

As the Group of 77 (G-77), a
coalition of developing countries that now includes 135 countries,
marked its 40th anniversary, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called
for fairer access to development. During a celebratory event on 29
April 2004, Annan noted key contributions the coalition has made in
advancing the global development agenda and highlighted issues yet
to be addressed adequately, including private capital flows,
unsustainable levels of external debt in many developing countries,
lack of access to markets of developed countries, and restrictions
on the movement of people from developing countries.

A Special Ministerial Meeting, to be held
on 11-12 June 2004 in Sao Paulo, Brazil in conjunction with UNCTAD XI,
will mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the G-77. The
Ministerial aims to, inter alia, review the evolution of the
G-77, assess the achievements of the Group over the last 40 years, and
analyze the challenges facing developing countries. The meeting is
expected to adopt the new strategy of action of developing countries
through “a solemn declaration.” The Chairs and Coordinators of the G-77
Chapters recently adopted a communiqué highlighting the group’s
commitments and concerns.

The UN Food and Agriculture
Organization has announced a new four-year initiative to address the
threat of hunger for mountain people through sustainable agriculture
and rural development (SARD) programmes. This plan will promote the
implementation of sustainable agricultural practices and development
policies at local and national levels in developing, transition and
developed countries. It follows from an international conference on
Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountain Regions in Adelboden, Switzerland, in June 2002, the Johannesburg World Summit
on Sustainable Development in September 2002, and other recent
international meetings.

The month of April saw the
announcement of several key international environment and
sustainable development awards. The 2003 Habitat Scroll of Honour
Award – the highest UN system award for people who have made
substantial contributions in human settlements development –
recognized Nasreen Mustafa Sideek Berwari, Minister for
Municipalities and Public Works on Iraq’s Governing Council, and
Margaret Catley-Carlson, Chair of the Global Water Partnership
during the twelfth session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development. Berwari was awarded for her commitment to the welfare
of displaced and vulnerable persons in northern Iraq and Catley-Carlson
was recognized for her contribution to placing water and sanitation
on the global political agenda.

The 2004 UN Population Award –
recognizing outstanding work in population activities and in the
improvement of health and welfare of individuals – was bestowed on John
Caldwell, Australian National
University in Canberra, for his work in the field of demography, and the
Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital for its pioneering treatment of childbirth
injuries.

The prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize honored seven “environmental
heroes” representing six geographic regions for their grassroots
activities. East Timor’s
Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho was recognized for his work in promoting
sustainable development and environmental protection in his country.
India’s Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla were honored for their
efforts to seek justice for survivors of environmental disasters, such
as the 1984 Bhopal disaster. Colombia’s Libia Grueso was awarded for her
leadership in a campaign that secured over 5.9 million acres in
territorial rights for the country’s black rural communities. The United
States’ Margie Eugene-Richard was bestowed the prize for her efforts to
hold Shell Chemicals company accountable for health problems of people
living near one of its plants in Norco, Louisiana. Georgia’s Manana
Kochladze was honored for her “fearlessness and tenacity in the face of
widespread government corruption and industry interests” in her country.
Ghana’s Rudolf Amenga-Etego, founder of the National Coalition Against
the Privatization of Water, gained recognition for his successful
campaign to suspend a major World Bank-funded privatization project in
his country.

UNEP OPENS REGIONAL OFFICE IN BRAZIL
UNEP has opened a new regional office in Brasilia, Brazil to focus
on the promotion of renewable energies and efficient energy
technologies, and development of emergency response and early warning
systems. The office will also support the identification and development
of projects to respond to national priorities in areas such as climate
change, biodiversity, land degradation, and transboundary water and
chemical management. The establishment of the office reflects UNEP’s
efforts to enhance the delivery of the organization’s initiatives at the
regional and subregional levels, respond more effectively to the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and implement the Millennium
Development Goals.

An International Nuclear Safety Group, comprising experts from many
countries, was recently formed with the aim of providing
authoritative advice and guidance on safety approaches, policies and
principles at nuclear power plants and facilities. Assisting the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which will serve as the
Group’s secretariat, the Group will focus on key safety concerns,
and current and emerging issues relevant to the safety of nuclear
power plants, research reactors and other nuclear fuel cycle
facilities. Formed at the request of IAEA Director General Mohamed
ElBaradei, the Group met for the first time last October. It intends
to meet twice a year with the next meeting scheduled for November in
Vienna. This year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the UN General
Assembly resolution calling for international cooperation in
developing the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

Waste should be added to the issues
of rising sea levels, overfishing, water shortages and inadequate
sanitation services as a key problem for small island states,
suggests a recent UNEP report released during the recent Global
Ministerial Environment Forum in Jeju, Korea.

“Handling solid wastes from industry,
households and tourism is emerging as another issue with which they need
advice and help. Such wastes are not only unsightly and a threat to
wildlife, they can also contaminate rivers and ground waters as they
slowly degrade,” said Klaus Töpfer, UNEP Executive Director at the
meeting.

Many small island developing states
(SIDS) depend on income from tourists, who may not return or recommend
visits if the landscape is littered with rubbish. UNEP, together with
other UN agencies and waste institutions, is assisting SIDS to prepare
waste minimization plans, develop directories of environmentally sound
waste management technologies and promote cleaner production techniques.
The UNEP reports on SIDS will be formally presented to ministers at the
upcoming International Meeting on the sustainable development of SIDS to
be held in Mauritius in August.

The 2004
Reuters-IUCN Media Awards for Excellence in Environmental Reporting
is inviting entries. Organized annually by the Reuters Foundation
and IUCN since 1994, the worldwide contest aims to increase
awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues by
fostering excellence in environmental reporting. One winner from
each of six geographic regions will be invited to attend the Global
Awards Ceremony, which will take place in November 2004 in Bangkok,
Thailand. The global winner will receive US$5,000.

Journalists
are invited to submit one entry – published between 1 January 2003 and
15 August 2004 – by 31 August 2004. Entries submitted in a language
other than English, French or Spanish should be supplemented with a
translation.

UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell has
called for more attention to be focused on protecting the
environment and averting environmental crises. During a
pre-retirement press briefing, Corell reflected on environmental
conventions that have been ratified and entered into force during
his 10 years at the UN and said conventions that have entered into
force since 1994 have improved environmental protection. He
particularly called attention to the Law of the Sea, calling it “The
Constitution of the Seas,” and said its entry into force is one of
the impressive achievements of recent times.
Corell plans to retire after 1 July
following 42 years in public service. In the meantime, he will
return to being an ambassador in the Swedish Foreign Service, a
position he has held since 1984.

Animals in areas that promote
ecotourism have changed behavior, heart rates and stress hormone
levels, according to a recent report in New Scientist
magazine. Examples include bottleneck dolphins in New Zealand, who
become frenetic when tourist boats arrive, and yellow-eyed penguins
in areas visited by ecotourists, who are producing smaller chicks.
In response, conservationists have called for research on the impact
of ecotourism on animals and for studies to be conducted before
ecotourism projects are initiated.

Barcelona, Spain will host this year’s World Environment Day, which
will be observed on 5 June during the Universal Forum of Cultures
that is being hosted by the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan
Autonomous Government and the Spanish Government. The theme for 2004
World Environment Day is “Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive?”

In the lead up to the 12th session of
the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in April 2004,
CSD-12 Chair Børge Brende, Norway’s Minister of the Environment,
cautioned that efforts to bring safe drinking water to 600 million
people worldwide by 2015 are running behind schedule. Governments
agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in
Johannesburg in 2002 to adopt by 2005 national plans for halving the
proportion of people without access to fresh water by 2015. Brende
told a news conference that “these plans will not be in place in all
countries by 2005,” while the plans are necessary to reach the 2015
goal.

No nation that wants to shape
informed policies and take effective action on issues such as
terrorism, health and the environment can afford to be without its
own independent capacity building in science and technology (S&T),
said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an opinion piece to Science
magazine recently.

In this article, Annan emphasizes the
need for true partnership between developed and developing countries
that includes cooperation among the scientific and technological
communities of different countries and regions. He notes that if every
country gains full access to the collective reservoir of S&T knowledge
and expertise and has the opportunity to develop its own independent
science capability, its citizens would be better positioned to discuss
and make informed decisions about the benefits and risks of new
technologies, such as genetic engineering and nanotechnology.

Highlighting a recently released report
by the InterAcademy Council (IAC) that proposes new initiatives to
foster global S&T cooperation and enhance national scientific
capabilities around the world, Annan noted several of the report’s
recommendations, including that every country develop an S&T strategy
that reflects local priorities. He also noted a suggestion that
developing countries commit at least 1-1.5% of their gross domestic
product to S&T capacity building. A second report is scheduled to be
released this year that will provide recommendations for using S&T to
improve agricultural productivity in Africa.

With more middle to high income consumers in Asia and the Pacific
than in Western Europe and North America combined, rising
consumerism in Asia might lead to an ecological disaster if
consumption levels in the east reach those seen in the west. In
efforts to stem the tide of this potential catastrophe, the European
Union is funding a US$500,000 project called Sustainable Consumption
Asia or SC.Asia that aims to identify existing best practices for
promoting sustainable consumption in Europe and Asia, and build
knowledge and capacity in government agencies for their
implementation.

Some Asian countries are beginning to address unsustainable
consumption in response to its adverse effects, such as natural
resource depletion, waste generation, traffic congestion and
freshwater and power supply shortages, but according to SC.Asia
Project Manager Niclas Svenningsen, most governments are focused
primarily on economic growth. Svenningsen suggests a sustainable
model for many Asian countries as one that would entail increasing
consumption to address poverty and ensure basic needs are met, and
modifying patterns and levels of consumption in the more affluent
sectors.

“As in many western countries, Asian shopping malls and brand
boutiques are being driven by a mentality of shop ‘til you drop,
spend ‘til you bend, and buy ‘til you die. Consuming is being touted
as happiness and little attention is being paid to the life behind
the product,” Svenningsen states. “There are opportunities for
countries to “leap-frog” some of the phases and mistakes of western
countries by adopting practices such as recycling programmes,
product testing, product labeling and information, public awareness
campaigns based on social research, ‘leading by example’ and
accountability by government and the private sector, and
‘environmentally-friendly’ laws and economic incentives,”
Svenningsen added.

Links to further information

UN Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific press release, 9
February 2004

The aluminum and packaging multinational
company Alcan Inc. has established a US$1 million annual prize to
recognize non-profit civil society NGOs that have made and continue to
make outstanding contributions toward sustainable development. The Prize
aims to increase the awareness of such organizations and foster a legacy
of sustainability by supporting the work of Prize recipients and
enhancing their ability to build capacity to have a greater impact in
the future. Launched at the recent 2004 World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, the Alcan Prize is created in association with the
International Business Leaders Forum. José-Maria Figueres, World
Economic Forum Co-CEO and former president of Costa Rica, will chair the
2004 adjudication panel. The closing date for entries is 31 March 2004.

The UN Development Programme and
Microsoft Corporation launched a joint initiative to advance
technology training in developing countries, with the goal of
helping them attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Under the
agreement announced by UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown and
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, the two organizations will provide technology-enabled
training to youth and adults in community-education centers in
developing nations.

UNEP, UNDP, IUCN–The World Conservation
Union and Stakeholder Forum have founded the Seed Awards – “Supporting
Entrepreneurs in Environment and Development.” This initiative, which
will be presented every two years, will award innovative partnership
proposals aimed at sustainable development. Award winning partners –
whether they are community groups, businesses, workers organizations or
local authorities – will receive support in developing business plans,
seeking funding and setting up partnerships. The awards will debut at
the UN Commission for Sustainable Development meeting scheduled for
April 2005.

UNEP FORESEES STUDY OF LINKS BETWEEN
ENVIRONMENT, CONFLICTS AND POVERTYEnvironment ministers at the March 2004
UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Forum are likely to approve a
new drive to widen UN understanding of the environment and links to
conflicts and poverty, according to Stephen Lonergan, Director of UNEPï¿½s
Division of Early Warnings and Assessment. Lonergan also highlighted a
new UNEP survey indicating that the two main gaps in environmental
understanding around the world are the relationship between the
environment and conflict and between the environment and poverty. He
added that UNEP might set up a new secretariat on environmental peace
and conflict.